Julian Fellowes….Titanic….can’t wait

What’s next from the mind of Julian Fellowes (Gosford Park, Downton Abbey) you might ask? Titanic, what else. Thankfully, not quite a spin-off in the American sense of the word (i.e. The Cleveland Show from The Simpsons or Joey from Friends or The Jeffersons from All in the Family) but there is a definite connection between his upcoming project and his recent ITV mega-hit, Downton Abbey. Sadly…with sadly being an extreme understatement, the series has been picked up for U.S. broadcast by ABC. Imagine how great this will be with commercial interruptions every 15 minutes. Go figure.

Lenny Henry to take over National Theatre

You may only know him as Gareth Blackstock from the brilliant British comedy, Chef, or you may only recognize his face as spokesperson for Premier Inn hotel chain. Whatever the case may be, Henry will soon follow-up his 2009 critically-acclaimed West End stage performance of Othello when he takes to the National Theatre stage as Antipholus of Syracuse in The Comedy of Errors, in a new production to be staged in the Olivier Theatre in London.

Peter Jackon’s Hobbit begins filming in New Zealand

The long-awaited Peter Jackson (Lord of the Rings trilogy) film, The Hobbit, starring Martin Freeman, has begun principle filming in New Zealand. I say long-awaited as there have been months of delays due to the director’s surgery, funding issues, distribution rights, departure of original director, Guillermo del Toro and New Zealand union issues over actor’s wages. On the upside, filming has begun on both Hobbit films. A huge downside, however, is wondering what this might do to the scheduled filming for the second series of the Steven Moffat/Mark Gatiss series, Sherlock, which was scheduled to begin in May and co-stars Martin Freeman as Dr. John Watson.

David Brent set to bid Michael Scott farewell

Pencil in May 19 on your calendar for the season finale and final episode for Steve Carell in The Office. Ricky Gervais will reprise his creepy but brilliant role of David Brent bringing along Will Arnett from the greatness of Arrested Development. Arnett has been rumored to one of the actors that, quite possibly, could replace Carell when the series returns next season. Anyone remember when Brent and Michael Scott first crossed paths in the Dunder Mifflen offices?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yRuaeK3R08k

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